Bicyclists ride past the shadow of the sculpture "Five Disks: One Empty" by Alexander Calder.
The sculpture is part of Princeton's Putnam Collection of twentieth-century sculpture. The collection, funded by an anonymous donor, is a memorial to John Putnam Jr. '45, who was killed in World War II.
Alfred Barr Jr. '22, a member of the Putnam selection committee and a longtime friend of Alexander Calder, approached the famed American artist to "discuss a monumental work designed especially for Princeton." After responding that he would find it "fun to make something especially for you, and quite big," Calder created the 26-foot-tall steel sculpture, which was installed in 1971 in Fine Hall Plaza.
Photo courtesy of Princeton University Archives